Safe Body Check-In: A Trauma-Informed Body Scan for Kids and Teens
Emotions register in the body before they have names. This check-in lets a young person tap a body diagram where something is happening, rate how strong it is from one to ten, write what they notice, and then re-rate afterwards. It is deliberately trauma-informed: nothing is forced, no area must be examined, and stopping at any point is a valid outcome.
Interoception is a skill, and it can be taught
Interoception is the sense of what is happening inside the body. Many autistic and trauma-affected young people have unreliable interoception, which makes hunger, needing the toilet, rising anxiety and pain hard to detect until they are extreme. Repeated, low-pressure check-ins build the signal.
Why it is trauma-informed
Classic body scans can be destabilising for people with trauma histories, because attention on the body can bring up more than expected. This version keeps sessions short, lets the user choose the area, offers grounding at any moment, and treats "I do not want to look there today" as a complete and acceptable answer.
How to use this tool
- Pick an intensity number first, so you have a baseline.
- Tap the parts of the body diagram where you notice something.
- Write what you are thinking and what emotion, if any, fits.
- Skip any area that feels like too much today.
- Re-rate the intensity afterwards and notice what moved.
Common questions
- What is a body scan in therapy?
- A guided practice of moving attention through the body and noticing sensation without trying to change it. It builds interoceptive awareness and helps link physical sensations to emotions.
- Is a body scan safe after trauma?
- It can be, when it is short, optional in every part, and paired with grounding. Anyone with a significant trauma history should ideally work through body-based practices alongside a trauma-trained clinician.
Where this fits
This companion is free psychoeducational self-help. It is not therapy, diagnosis, or crisis care, and it does not replace a licensed clinician. Everything you enter is stored locally in your own browser and is never transmitted to a server.
It lives inside FeelingsHelper Kids & Teens Mode, alongside more than sixty other free companions for autism, ADHD, PTSD, and trauma.
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